Morning times from Jerez - Thursday

NEWS STORY07/02/2013

It's early days, but Felipe Massa has looked very good this morning. Earlier, the Brazilian put together a run of six timed laps, ranging between 1:19.005 and 1:20.009. Just over an hour later he came out for what was clearly a qualifying run. The Brazilian posted a 1:17.879 - the fastest time see this week - going on to complete four more timed laps on the same set of tyres.

There was relief at Mercedes also, where Nico Rosberg has enjoyed a trouble free morning after two days of misery. The ghosts of Tuesday's fire and Wednesday's crash were soon laid to rest as the German completed three runs which exceeded the total number of laps the Brackley outfit had completed over the previous two days. Indeed, such is the team's confidence it has tried a new front wing.

Third quickest at present is James Rossiter, who earlier had a scare when he collided with one of his mechanics in the pitlane. Carrying just a little too much speed, combined with cold brakes and cold tyres, the Englishman missed his slot and hit his jack-man throwing him into the air. Thankfully, the mechanic was subsequently found to be OK and will not require a trip to the hospital - though the nose on Rossiter's car was damaged and had to be changed.

It's been a relatively quiet morning for the three world champions on duty - Button, Vettel and Raikkonen - the latter two enjoying their first taste of their respective cars.